Air part 1
by Nico Cole
Summary: I just finished editing chapter 2 and I must say that I'm quite pleased with the results. Sorry but no new Destiny scenes, only flashbacks. The next chapter will have scenes from Icarus Base. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Into the Void

In the dead of space, a massive, Ancient spaceship jumped out of faster-than-light travel in a blur. The ship had been vacant and mostly unpowered, but now lights started to activate amongst it's corridors. In the center of the ship, a Stargate spun around, erupted into an event horizon and filled the room with an ominous blue light. A young man, Lt. Matthew Scott, tumbled through the event horizon. Staggering to his feet, with rifle at the ready, he tried to make sense of dark surroundings. Behind him, luggage and other various cases shot through the Stargate and rolled down the ramp and slid across the floor. A few more people began falling through the wormhole, stumbling over the people who'd just arrived.

"All right, get out of the way," Scott yelled, helping the people aside. "Get out of the way! Come on, come on, come on." More people continued to trip and fall through. "Oh sh-," he whispered. Panicked murmurings flooded the room as everyone tried to shift out of each other's way. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon." Lt. Scott grabbed the radio on his vest. "This is Scott! Slow down the evac!" The radio static crackled. "We are coming in too hot! Come in!" he spun around. "Oh God, where are we now?"

"What is this place?" A man cried.

"Get 'em off the ramp!" Scott directed him.

By his feet another man, Dr. Nicholas Rush, dazedly rose from the floor, shaking his head. He staggered through the mob and away from the gate, protecting his glasses. More people came through, looking injured or bloody already. Dr. Rush steped over the injured, passed TJ and worked his way over to a console lighting up. Rush tried to read the console using his glasses, whose frames were now broken. He looked up towards the Stargate. The events there seemed to be moving in slow motion for him as he took it all in. Rush turned and climbed a metal, spiral staircase behind him to a higher level overlooking the Gateroom. He looked down at the panicked crowd and equipment still falling through the Stargate with an oddly satisfied smile on his face.

One woman in the thick of the lot, Camile Wray, quickly took stock of her surroundings despite the confusion. She spotted Lt. Scott helping people up and grabbed him by his vest, drawing his attention. "Where are we?" she demanded over the commotion. "Why didn't we come through to Earth?"

"There's no time to explain! Off to the side!"

"What's going on?" Dr. Brody yelled.

"Colonel, come in! This is Scott." Still nothing."Come in, is anyone there?"

Lt. Johansen began treating some people who had injured themselves from their falls.

"I need a medic!" Dr. Volker cried from the floor.

"Over here." called Lt. Johansen. Dr. Volker slid over to her using his left hand, with his right arm flung over his waist.

"Can you move your fingers?" TJ asked with cool focus.

"No. I think my arm's broken." Volker said.

"Okay, just hold your arm there and let me put it in a sling, okay?"

"Okay."

Eli stumbled through the event horizon and fell to the floor, quickly rising to check that everything on his body was still intact. He sighed in relief and turned around to face the Stargate, only to have to duck from more cases flying through the Gate.

A young lady and an older gentleman, Chloe and Senator Armstrong, stumbled through the Gate and fell sprawled on the floor. The older man gave a haggard cough.

"Oof. Are you okay?" Chloe asked her father.

"Yeah." replied the senator shortly.

"Keep calm. Keep calm," Scott reassured them. "And clear this area. There's still more incoming. Give me your hand."

They got out of the way of the equipment still bouncing through. The Senator looked around. "Oh God...holy-here the hell are we?"

Two more military personnel came through the Gate. As they were moving off to the side, Scott grabed one of them. "Greer! Where's Colonel Young?"

"He was right behind me." Sgt. Greer said looking back.

Colonel Young, shot through the puddle, and flew completely across the room, smoking as he barrel-rolled several times before slamming his head against a metal door on the opposite side of the room. The puddle flickered for a second, then vanished. Steam briefly hissed on either side of the Stargate, causing only more shouting and confusion. Without the light from the active wormhole, the room had plunged into darkness. The only lights came from flashlights or lights on rifles.

Sgt. Greer manuevered his way through the crowd of people and cases. "Move. Move! Stay calm. Get down."

Lt. Scott struggled against the crowd. "Excuse me. Move. Please move." He reached the Col.'s side, who hadn't moved yet. "Colonel? Colonel Young?" Col. Young tried to sit up. "No sir, don't move yet."

"Where a-Where are we?"

Scott reached to support Young's head. "I don't know, sir." Scott said worriedly.

Young, finding it hard to talk, said "You're in charge. Okay? You-," And passed out. Scott stared in horror as he pulled his hand away from the back of Young's head and found it lathered in dark red blood.

Scott, frightened, asked, "Sir?" The Colonel was silent. "TJ!" he bellowed.

"I'm coming!" she shouted from across the room, and rushed over to Scott.

"Move back, people." Sgt. Greer pushed the civilians backwards. "Get Back."

"Move, move, move." Lt. Johansen fell to the Col.'s side.

"Is he okay?" Greer asked TJ.

"I…I don't know." she said handing a rag to Scott to wipe his hands off on. TJ checked his vital signs.

Scott stood up, spotting Eli among the crowd. "Wallace! What is this place?"

Eli looked up meekly. "I don't know. Look, I-I just did what Rush told me-"

"Where is he?"

"I-I don't know. He-he went through ahead of me."

Scott called out. "Rush! RUSH!" He turned to Eli, "Eli, help me find him!"

"Well, I-"

Suddenly a shrill whine penetrated the walls and corridors of the ship. As they looked up, a strange light shifted throughout the room before stabilizing with a shuddering echo.

"What in the hell was that?" Greer asked cautiously.

"I don't know. Sergeant, I need you to settle these people. Find out who they are and what we've got. But nobody leaves this room."

"Yes, sir." He said absently, still looking around the room.

Scott looked down worriedly at TJ who was still treating Col. Young. "Eli! Now!" He demanded.

Eli, half-hyperventalating, could only stare back in shock. "Yeah...Yeah."

Lt. Scott and Eli walked down a corridor leading from the Gateroom. Their flashlights continously scanned the walls. Eli spotted a metal door with familiar Ancient writing and stopped to study it.

"What is it?" Scott asked.

"Uh…I-I've seen this writing before."

"In the game?"

"Yeah. I think so." Eli studied the side panel then pressed a few button. They both jump back a little as the door's center gearlock spun around parting the door down the middle. Inside the room, was Dr. Rush standing at a balcony in front of a large glass window, watching the light shifting of hyperspace travel passed and around the ship's shield. "Jeez. We're on a ship?"

Rush turned and grinned, "The design is clearly Ancient, in the truest sense of the word...Launched hundreds of thousands of years ago."

Eli peers over the edge and gawks at the sight, ignoring Rush. The ship extends in front of the window and to the sides far enough to hold a small city.

"Faster than light. Yet not through hyperspace," Rush continued. "Who knows how far it's traveled?"

"Dr. Rush. We've got a lot of wounded, and we need to get home." Rush glanced towards Scott looking annoyed at his interruption.

Back in the Gateroom, TJ and another person checked on Col. Young whose condition hadn't changed. Everyone else, if not otherwise injured, were at least in shock from the recent events. The civilians and several scientists wandered around looking lost.

There were some rattles and bumping sounds from one of the air vents. Dr. Franklin, closest, immediately notices. "The vents keep rattling over here." He complains to no one in particular.

TJ keyed her radio, "Lt. Scott, Come in."

Scott answered, "Go ahead."

"We've got a problem. One of the air vents just shut down in here."

Scott grimaced. "Copy that."

"Yeah, the air's gettin' pretty thin in here too." Eli agreed.

"What does that mean?" Scott asked Rush.

"That the life support system is failing. And we should probably do something about that." he answered caulously heading out. Eli and Scott exchanged glances and followed.


	2. Chapter 2

New Arrivals

Eli typed rapidly on his keyboard while talking to his friend via video conference. "The core of the planet _is_ the power source," Eli explained. "You have to channel it into the weapons to destroy the enemy ship."

"Can't do it, dude." his friend insisted.

"I _am_ doing it." On Eli's computer screen, an alien-like avatar was standing in front of a large holographic projection of a cypher in an Ancient language.

"It's probly one of those programmer's jokes. Y'know, a problem that can't be solved."

"But, I _did_ solved it." He proudly declared.

"No you didn't."

"Just...shut up...watch this." Eli's character pulled out a handheld console and started typing something. The holoraphic cypher vanished. Eli waited anxiously until the central spire of Atlantis appeared on the screen. "What the hell!" He yelled.

"What happened?" his friend asked.

"Nothing happened," Eli admitted. "I'm…I'm back at the beginning of the level."

"You are _so_ full of yourself."

"No-no-no. It _worked _last night. The firing code locked."

"Whatever." getting bored, his friend shut down the connection.

Eli threw his headset down on his bedroom desk, "That was extremely unsatisfying." He sighed to himself and threw his hands behind his head. A loud knock at the front door caused Eli to pull himself away from his desk. Munching on a snack, he answered it to find a three star general standing in his doorway.

"Eli Wallace?" Gen. O'Neill asked through dark black sunglasses.

"Actually-Uhm. Eli's not here right now…" Eli choked. The General gestured for someone else to approach, but Eli quickly protested, "Okay, okay…whatever you guys _think_ that I did, I swear, you got the wrong guy."

Dr. Rush stepped out of an SUV at the street and approached Eli, smiling oddly. Gen. O'Neill turned back to Eli, "Do I really look like someone who'd be standing here if I didn't already know everything about you?" he asked very quirk-like.

"Yeah, not really." Eli mumbled deflatedly.

"Yeah." Gen. O'Neill smirked.

"My name is Dr. Nicholas Rush," introduced the man through a thick scottish accent. "May we come in?"

"Why?"

Rush looked a little uncomfortable speaking on Eli's front porch, but pressed forward. "You've spent a great deal of time, recently, playing an online fantasy game called _Prometheus_."

Eli scoffed, "What? _Big Brother'_s got nothing better to do?"

Their expressions didn't change.

"Last night, you solved the _Dakara_ weapons puzzle." Rush continued.

"Yeah, a month of my life went into solving that thing. You know what happens when you do solve it? ...Nothing."

"We're here. That happened." O'Neill declared matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, I guess. Who did you say you were?"

"I didn't."

Dr. Rush interceded, "To complete that particular puzzle, you had to solve a millennia old mathematical proof written in another language. For that, you've won something of a prize."

Eli rubbed his hands together. "Well whatever it is, I'll take the cash equivalent."

"Well there isn't one," Dr. Rush replied sharply. He seemed to be getting annoyed at something. "It's a non-disclosure agreement." He handed Eli a clipboard. On the cover page were the words _non-disclosure _and _classified_ printed in capital letters.

Eli's eyes widened incredulously, "Non-disclos…So you guys really embedded a top-secret problem into a game? Hoping someone like-" he motioned to his big red shirt that said 'you are here' "-me would solve it?"

"Yup."

"Well what do you want from me?"

O'Neill and Rush exchanged a serious look. "I assure you, it'll be worth your while to sign that."

"And if I don't?" Eli countered, folding his arms.

"Then we'll beam you up to our spaceship." O'Neill replied, deadpan.

Eli gauffed, but then noticed the two men didn't share in the joke. "Right. Uh…I...think I want my...lawyer to look this over first. Yeah." He shruged, taking the agreement.

"And by_ lawyer_, I assume you mean,_ mother_."

Eli continued laughing nervously and backed away, reaching for the door. "So we'll just agree then, that I...will call you." He nodded smartly and shut the door in their faces. Turning around he leaned back against the door and shook his head. He started walking back up the stairs to his room while looking over the non-disclosure agreement. As he neared the top of the stairs, he was engulfed in a brilliant light and the room around him faded away. Eli was still walking and reading, but soon realized he was no longer in his home. The floor beneath him had changed from soft carpet to cold metal and Eli looked up to find the Great Lakes region of North America far below.

"What the-huh?" He jumped back startled by the realization of where he was.

Dr. Rush suddenly faded into the room in another brilliant light causing Eli to jump back even more, "Welcome aboard the _George_ _Hammond_, Eli."

"H-How did-I-Is that-"

"Yes, that is planet Earth below you, and yes, you are on a spaceship. Eli, we need your help. To be honest, I'm not sure how long it's going to take."

Eli pulled out his iPhone and started dialing, "I-I should call my mom to-to tell her where I am."

"That's probably not going to work up here."

He looked blank, then tried to play it cool. "Right-Right."

"You may speak with her before we leave if you like. There's a cover story you'll have to follow while you're gone."

"I-I'm sorry. Gone where exactly?"

"Another planet. 21 light years from here."

"I-uh-I can't go." He blurted, looking back out the window. "I-I have things that-"

"We know about your mother's condition."

He slouched slightly looking a little defeated, "You just know everything, don't you?"

Dr. Rush's face lit up for an instance at that remark but quickly disappeared and he continued. "We also know that you are currently unemployed and that your mother's medical coverage is, well, an ongoing issue. We'll see she has the best available care while you're gone."

"And what if I don't sign? What are you gonna do, erase my memory?" He joked nervously.

"Something like that."

Considering this, Eli pulled at the pajama bottoms he'd been wearing. "Can I get some pants?"

Once Dr. Rush had finished briefing Eli on the project, Eli had to sit through a crash course on the essentials of interstellar and intergalactic space travel, but eventually got to say his farewells to his mother.

Mrs. Wallace paced in her kitchen, while trying to avoid the tangled phone cord. "Can't you just tell me where you are?" She pleaded.

"No, mom. It's top secret." he insisted.

"Eli!" She beamed.

"I'm serious, Mom, I can't say anything more than that."

"But, I don't understand. Why didn't you at least tell me you were leaving?"

"I'm sorry, but did you get that call from-"

"Yes, the Air Force, I got it. Are you in a plane now? You sound like you're in an airplane."

Eli looked around at the ever-extending interior of the _Hammond_. "Um-no, it's nothing like that. Look, I want you to know that...they're going to look after you."

"...you didn't have to do this."

"This is good, mom, really. It's the kind of thing I've always dreamed of."

A nearby sergent motioned that his time was almost up so Eli had to hurry with his goodbyes. Moments later the _Hammond_ jumped to FTL and Eli was allowed to wander the ship for the rest of the trek. He found his way to the noisy, bustling mess hall where he laid eyes on a quiet, young lady who seemed too out-of-place on a military vessel. She was writing in a journal and seemed like she was taking notes on something important. She paused when she caught eyes with an out-of-place young man who kept looking in her direction. It took Eli a few seconds to realize he was staring and decide to join her. 'As if theres going to be a better circumstance to relate' he thought to himself.

"Hi? You mind?" He asked her innocently.

She gestured to the empty chair. "No, go ahead."

"Thanks." He said plopping into the seat.

"First time on a spaceship, too?" She guessed.

"Me-I've been on lots of…uh…various...uhm-Eli Wallace."

"I know."

"You've heard of me?"

"I have."

Eli relaxed a bit, "Wow. That almost never happens. And you are?"

"Chloe. I work for Alan Armstrong," She claimed proudly, but Eli shook his head in ignorance. "…senator of California?"

"Oh, I _have_ heard of California." She giggled at his joke. "My last job was in the burger and fries field. How'd you line that up?"

"I was a political science major at Harvard, so…"

He feigned slightly. "Hmm, I hear it's a good school. For a while there, I was at-"

"MIT. I know."

Eli seemed a little taken back, "Really?" He leaned closer, "So what _else_ have they told you about me?" She blushed and tried averting her eyes from his, but with no luck.


End file.
